Apparatus and method for use in fever therapy



J. H. EMERSON Oct. 6, 1942, 2,298,04

APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR USE IN FEVER THERAPY :s Sheets-Sheet 1 KN. \N 1M \m WC mm M QNQ \& RN 0 bk \N a \N N NW Oct. 6, 1 942. .1. H. EMERSCNAPPARATUS AND METHOD FOR USE IN FEVER THERAPY a Sheets-Shee t 2 FiledJune l1, 1940 1942- J. H. EMERSON APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR USE IN FEVERTHERAPY Filed June 11, 1940 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Patented Oct. 6, 1942PPARATUS AND T D O U E FEVER THERAPY Claims.

This invention relates to a novel method and apparatusfor use in fevertherapy and more particularly to an improved method-utilizing veryfinely divided fog-like heated water particles.

Fever therapy is used for the treatment of patients suffering fromcertain types of arthritis, syphilis, gonorrhoea, and other diseases. Itconsists in raising the patients temperature to from 103 to 109 F. forperiods of time ranging from one-half an hour to as long as twentyhours. The elevated temperature of the patient for the required period.of time tends to destroy some, if not all, of certain disease germs andto speed recovery of the patient. The temperatures used and duration ofthe treatment depends upon the disease being treated and the physicalcondition of thepatient, and they should be prescribed only by acompetent physician.

The primary object of the present invention is to provide a fevertherapy method and apparatus utilizing very finely divided fog-likeheated water particles for raising and maintaining-a patientstemperature.

Further objects are the provision of such a method and apparatus whichutilizes such foglike water particles to produce substantially 100%relative humidity in the patient-enclosing chamber, which retains theparticles in the chamber without subjecting them to any substantial aircurrents and an optional method which periodically utilizes finelydivided fog-like particles of cooled water.

Another object is the provision of a novel and useful method of fevertherapy and novel apparatus for carrying out said method.

Further objects will be apparent from a consideration of the followingdescription and the annexed drawings which exemplify one embodiment ofan apparatus which may be used to carry out my method and which has beenchosen for the purpose of illustration.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a sectional view of an apparatus for use in carrying out mymethod, the section being taken on the lines I-l of Fig. 5;

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the apparatus with the cover andpatient-receiving tray or pan rem ed;

Fig. 3'is an end elevational view looking at the foot end of theapparatus;

Fig. 4 is an end elevational view looking at the head end of theapparatus;

Fig. 5 is a section on the line 55 of Fig. 1 and Fi 6 is asectional viewof one of the humidifiers used in the apparatus.

A frame Ill is mounted upon the Wheels l'l so that the apparatus may bemoved from place to place as desired. A horizontal water-containing panI2 (Figs. 1 and 5) is secured adjacent its edges to the frame It. Thepipe [3 and valve l4 afford an outlet through which the water 9 may bedrained from the pan I2 and through which fresh water may be supplied tothe pan by attaching a hose between the valve I4 and any convenientwater tap.

Two humidifiers I5 are supported by the rods I6 which have theirouterends welded or otherwise secured to the strips I! which in turn aresecured to the frame [0.

At the foot end of the apparatus a separate chamber is provided by meansof the partition l8 and the pan I9 (Fig. 1) which are secured adjacenttheir edges to the frame II]. A hinged door .23 (Figs. 1 and 3) afiordsaccess to this chamber and a humidifier 2| is mounted therein. A pipe 22and valve 23 aiford a water outletand inlet to and from the pan I9.

Two heating units 25 (Figs. 1 and 5) extend substantially parallel tothe pan I2 and each heating unit is electrically connected with thecontrol box '26 (Figs. 1 and 4) and with a suitable electric outlet forthe reception of a cord and plug 21 leading to any convenient source ofcur-' rent such as a wall socket in the room. The control box isprovided with suitable switches or controls whereby the current in theheating units 25 may be turned on and off to regulate the temperature ofthe water in the pan l2.

A pan 28 (Figs. Band 1) is supported by the two longitudinally extendingmembers 29 which extend parallel to the sides of the frame and which arewelded or otherwise secured to the cross members 30. The ends of thecross members 30 are welded or otherwise secured to the members I? whichin turn are secured to the frame. The pan 28 may be lifted from thesupporting members 29 if desired (Figs. 5 and 2). The bottom of the panslopes toward the orifice 33 and beneath the orifice there is mounted aconduit 34 the lower end of which terminates above a removable basin 35.Any perspiration or other fluids which fall into the pan 28 pass throughthe orifice 33 to the basin 35 which may be emptied from time to time.

The racks 36 are supported by the pan 28 and the patient reclines upon arubber covered mattress ,(not shown) which is supported by these racks.Thevheadrest 3! (Figs. 1, 2 and 4) is adjustably secured to the head endof the frame. A cover 40 is hinged to the frame at 4| (Figs. 1

and 3) and the rods 42 have their upper ends secured to the hinges or tothe cover so that said rods move with the cover about the axis of thehinges. A horizontal rod 43 is secured between the lower ends of therods 42 and a coil spring 44 has one end secured to the rod 43 and theother end secured to the bottom of the pan l2. Thus when the cover ismoved upwardly about the axis of the hinges 4| the spring 44 aids itsmovement and when the cover is returned to the closed position shown inFig. 1 the spring tends to retard its movement. Removable doors 4B areprovided in the sides of the cover for ready access to the patientduring treatment.- A towel rack or bar 4'! is secured to the head end ofthe cover and is used to support a blanket or towel for providing aclosure between the end of the cover and the patients neckduringtreatment. The walls of the cover, the door 46, and the frame H!are insulated as shown in Figs. 1 and 5.

Communication between the patient-enclosing chamber and the chamber atthe foot end of the apparatus is provided by the hollow member 50 (Figs.1 and 2). Communication between the patient-enclosing chamber and thechamber which houses the Vaporizers I5 is provided by the space betweenthe edge of the pan 28 and the sides of the frame, as shown in Figs. 5,2 and 1.

The humidifiers l5 and 2| are each of the construction shown in Fig. 6,which is a vertical section of such a humidifier. Each humidifiercomprises a cover 60 provided with outlet perforations 6|. The cover 60is supported on the peripheral flange 62 of the housing 63. A feltcushion 64 is provided between the flange and the cover. The housing 63is provided with drain openings 65. A flanged cylinder 66 is supportedupon legs 61 which are secured to the housing. The cylinder 66 isprovided with a plurality of vertical slots 68 and just above the upperend of the slots a horizontal supporting member 69 is secured to thecylinder 66. The electric motor 10 is mounted upon the supporting member69 and current for operation of the motor is supplied by the cord Hwhich runs to the control box 26 (Fig. 1) where a control switch isprovided for the motor of each humidifier. The

' motor is provided with a rotating drive shaft 12 to which theknife-edged disk-shaped member 13 is secured by the set screw 14. Avertical cylinder pump member 15 is secured to the disk 13 and the driveshaft 12. The lower end of the pump member 15 is provided with a cap 16having a slot 11 which permits water to enter therethrough. An annulargroove 18 is provided in the disk 13 and four horizontal tubes 19connect this groove with the interior of the pump member 15. A meshscreen 80 covers the groove '18. Four or more fan blades 8! are formedbeneath the disk 13. The lower end of the pump member 15 is surroundedby a spaced strainer 82 which is secured to the housing 63.

When the motor is operated the disk 13 and the pump 15 are continuouslyrotated by the motor drive shaft 12. Rotation of the pump causes waterto enter the opening 11 in the cap 16 and to rise along the inner wallof the pump until the water reaches the ends of the horizontal tubes 19through which it passes to fill the groove 2'8. The water then overflowsthrough the screen 80 to the surface of the rotating disk 73 and flowsover the surface of the disk until it reaches the knife blade peripherywhere it is thrown from the edge of the disk in the form of very finefog-like particles which pass through the vertical slots 68. The fanblades 84 create suflicient air circulation to cause the fog-like waterparticles to pass upwardly through the ports 6|. Any moisture which iscondensed during the process passes downwardly through the holes 65 andreturns to the pan [2 (Fig. 1).

In use of the apparatus for carrying out my novel method, to raise thepatients temperature it is usually necessary to raise the temperature inthe patient enclosure or chamber to about 130 F. and to hold it thereuntil the patients temperature reaches the desired elevation of -from103 to 109 F. The temperature of the enclosure is then lowered toapproximately the temperature of the patient and is maintained at thattemperature until termination of the treatment.

Before the patient is inserted the heating elements 25 are turned on,raising the temperature of the water in the pan I2 to approximately 130F. and the motors of the humidifiers l5 are started to test operabilityof each humidifier.

To insert the patient the cover 40 is moved upwardly about the axis ofthe hinges and the patient is placed upon the support with his head uponthe headrest, the cover is closed and a towel or blanket is arranged toseal the space between the patients neck and the head end of the cover.The patient is thus secured in an insulated substantially air-tightenclosure.

The humidifiers I5 are then started and they eject very finely dividedfog-like particles of water which are heated to approximately 130 F.These fog-like particles float slowly upwardly around the edges of thepan 29 into the patientenclosing chamber until the atmosphere issaturated therewith. The result is an atmosphere of substantiallyrelative humidity and a temperature of approximately 109 F. After thechamber has been filled with the fog-like water particles there aresubstantially no air currents in the patient-enclosing chamber and thechamber is filled with what might be described as static fog at atemperature of about 109 F.

When the patients temperature reaches 103 to 109 F. the temperature ofthe water in the pan I2 is reduced so that the temperature of the fog inthe patient-enclosing chamber will be maintained at substantially thepatients temperature. The use of these finely divided fog-like waterparticles is of great importance because it permits the use ofsubstantially 100% relative humidity in the patient-enclosing chamber,the use of substantially no air currents therein, and the use of aminimum temperature (103 to F.) for raising and maintaining the patientstemperature. Under such conditions it has been found that the patientsskin is heated as little as possible, there is less stimulation to thesweat glands and to the nerve endings and patient exhibits far lessrestlessness, runs lower pulse rates and there is less likelihood ofdelirium. Such a method of fever therapy treatment has been found farsuperior to a method in which water is sprayed directly into the chambercreating air currents necessitating the use of higher temperatures ofwater to elevate and maintain the patients temperature and producingless than 100% relative humidity.

When patients are in the apparatus for extremely long periods it may bedesirable to occasionally give them physical relief from the hightemperature. This is done by placing cold Water in the pan l9 andrunning the humidifier 2| for a short period. This humidifier conveysfinely divided cold Water particles to the patientenclosing chamber,thereby lowering its temperature.

While I have shown and described one desirable method and one desirableembodiment of apparatus for carrying out the method, it is to beunderstood that this disclosure is for the purpose of illustration andthat various forms of the apparatus may be used and that thesubstitution of equivalent steps in the process may be made Withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in theappended claims.

I claim:

1. Method of fever therapy comprising heating a body of water to from100 to 130 F., breaking up a portion of said water into finely dividedfog-like particles, conveying said particles to a chamber in which thepatient body is enclosed to thereby subject the body of the patient tosaid heated, finely divided fog-like particles, and returning the waterwhich collects on the walls of the patient-enclosing chamber to saidbody of heated water, whereby the temperature of said chamber iselevated to and maintained at from 100- to 130 F.

2. Method of fever therapy comprising heating a body of water to from100 to 130 F., breaking up a portion of said water into finely dividedfog-like particles, conveying said particles to a chamber in which thepatients body is enclosed to thereby subject the body of the patient tosaid heated, finely divided fog-like particles, returning the Waterwhich collects on the wall of the patient-enclosing chamber to said bodyof heated water, and collecting moisture which drips from the patientsbody to prevent said moisture from returning to said body of heatedwater, whereby the temperature of said chamber is elevated to andmaintained at from to F.

3. In a fever therapy apparatus having a patient-receiving chamber and asubstantially horizontal support in said chamber for supporting thepatients body, the improvement which comprises a tank below said supportconstructed and arranged to receive and retain water collecting upon andrunning down the walls of the chamher, and mechanical means constructedand arranged to receive water from said tank and to break it up intofinely divided fog-like particles.

4. In fever therapy apparatus having a patient-receiving chamber and asubstantially horizontal support in said chamber for holding thepatients body, the improvement which comprises a water tank below saidsupport constructed and arranged to receive and retain water collectingupon and. running down the walls of the chamber, electrical mean tocontrol the temperature of the water in said tank, and mechanical meansconstructed and arranged to receive water from said tank and to break itup into finely divided fog-like particles.

5. In fever therapy apparatus having a patient-receiving chamber, asubstantially horizontal support in said chamber for holding thepatients body, and a pan below said support constructed and arranged tocollect moisture from the patients body, the improvement which comprisesa water tank below said pan constructed and arranged to receive andretain water collecting upon and running down the walls of the chamber,electrical means to control the temperature of the water in said tank,and mechanical means constructed and arranged to receive water from saidtank and to break it up into finely divided fog-like particles.

JOHN H. EMERSON.

